Big Ank 🤝 Big Tom
— Muhammad big ANK Ankalaev (@AnkalaevM)
March 14, 2025
Magomed
Ankalaev and Tom
Aspinall seem to have bonded over the Jon Jones
saga.
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While Jones is the heavyweight champ, he has long been avoiding a
matchup against interim champ Aspinall. “Bones” was even
considering fighting former light heavyweight champ Alex
Pereira in a super fight instead of facing Aspinall. However,
Ankalaev recently ended hopes of that matchup by dethroning Pereira
via unanimous decision at UFC 313
earlier this month.
Ankalaev has since named himself “Big Ank” and been unhesitant in
taking shots at others. The Dagestani most recently targeted Jones,
bringing up his history of failed drug tests and accusing him of
ducking Aspinall. Ankalaev believes Jones isn’t happy that the
Pereira matchup is now out of the equation.
“Jonny steroid machine was very disappointed,” Ankalaev wrote on X. “I beat Alex. Please fight big [Tom
Aspinall]. Stop running.”
Ankalaev then shared a handshake emoji expressing a bond with
Aspinall, and “Honey Badger” returned the favor by sharing the same
on his Instagram stories.
Jones won the heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane
in 2023 which also marked his return to action after a three-year
hiatus. “Bones” was then supposed to defend it against Stipe
Miocic in November 2023 but was sidelined due to an injury.
Aspinall won the interim title in the meantime against Sergei
Pavlovich and defended it against Curtis
Blaydes. However, Jones remained adamant on fighting Miocic,
whom he beat via stoppage at UFC 309 this past November. While
Jones was initially reluctant to accept the Aspinall fight, UFC CEO
Dana White has remained confident the bout will happen.